The invention relates to a supporting mount for the angularly mobile flexible support of a wheel suspension supporting member, especially of a shock absorber, and, more specifically, to a supporting mount with a mount core accommodated without play by an elastomer body, provided inside a mount housing. The movements of the mount core are limited in the supporting direction via the elastomer body by stops that are fixed in relation to the housing.
A supporting mount of this kind is known from FIG. 2 of U.S. Pat. No. 3,037,787, the elastomer body of the mount is formed by two rubber annular bodies which are inserted into the mount housing coaxially to one another and between them accommodate a flange which is formed on the base of a hemispherical section of the mount core accommodated by one of the annular bodies.
The mount housing is of a design which resembles an inverted cup. A central opening is provided in its base situated at the top. The annular body which accommodates the hemispherical section of the mount core engages partially between the rim of the base opening and the hemispherical section of the core provided at a distance from the base. The other elastomeric annular body is supported against both the flange of the mount core and against a lower, annular housing closure part. The lower, annular closing part is penetrated by the lower part of the mount core screwed onto the upper end of a piston rod of a shock absorber.
The rim part of the base of the mount housing and the annular housing closure part assume the function of a stop for limiting the movements of the mount core in the supporting direction of the shock absorber.
In this design of the mount, the two elastomeric annular bodies are subject to a compressive load, in each case in one supporting direction. The life of both annular bodies is greatly reduced by the load. This results from the fact that, when the mount is subjected to stress, the annular bodies are partially squeezed hard between the rim of the opening of the housing base or housing closure part and the mount core or flange of the latter. In addition, the annular body which accommodates the hemispherical part of the mount core is subjected to damaging frictional influences in the case of angular movements of the shock-absorber piston rod.
Finally, in view of the desired mount characteristic the rubber annular bodies must be of correspondingly large dimensions. This is particularly true of the annular body provided between the flange of the mount core and the housing base in view of the fact that this annular body has to take up a preload due to the weight of the vehicle. The supporting mount must therefore be of a disproportionately large configuration and accordingly takes up a correspondingly large installation space.
There is therefore needed a supporting mount configured in an embodiment in accordance with the above-described prior mounts in such a way that it can be configured with improved spring properties in essentially smaller dimensions and can be produced with a smaller number of parts, hence economically. In addition, it should be distinguished by having a long life and operating in a frictionless manner.
These needs are met according to the present invention by a supporting mount for the angularly mobile flexible support of a supporting member of a wheel suspension, especially a shock absorber, with a mount core, accommodated without play by an elastomer body, provided inside a mount housing. The movements of the mount core are limited in the supporting direction via the elastomer body by stops fixed in relation to the housing wherein the mount core is vulcanized into the elastomer body. The elastomer body is prestressed in the supporting direction in the mount housing and is non-contacting in relation to the stops.
In the design of mount according to the present invention, the mount core interacts with the elastomer body in a frictionless manner because it is vulcanized into the latter. Due to the prestressed arrangement of the elastomer body in the mount housing, it is subject to shear stresses which can be taken up by it in a favorable manner in both supporting directions. To achieve a desired mount characteristic, a one-piece elastomer body is sufficient, correspondingly little construction space being required to accommodate it. The entire mount design can accordingly be configured in a manner which is economical for production. Despite the small size of the mount dimensions, the distances between the prestressed elastomer body and the stops can at the same time be stipulated such that small supporting forces are introduced into the vehicle part concerned with a soft spring characteristic and large supporting forces are introduced into the vehicle part concerned in accordance with requirements via a spring characteristic which hardens in a correspondingly progressive manner.
In addition to the supporting mount in accordance with FIG. 2 of U.S. Pat. No. 3,037,787, FIG. 3 of the U.S. patent already shows a supporting mount with a mount core which is vulcanized into a one-piece elastomer body. However, the one-piece elastomer body is not inserted into the mount housing with prestress but rather is vulcanized into a stop-free support casing.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.